Pressurized container valve



Feb. 2, 1954 J. E. AYRES 2,667,993

PRESSURIZED CONTAINER VALVE Filei June 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'ulupllrlnwl 77 INVENTOR.

Joy/v 5 147/968 74 firm/Mays Feb. 2, 1954 AYREs 2,667,993

PRESSURIZED CONTAINER VALVE v Filed June 24, 1950 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a I 20 jay iii:

Q IQINVENTOR. 22 r\ 12 /0///V 7/956 /lf 67 a; v 23 41 Patented Feb. 2, 1954 PRESSURIZED CONTAINER VALVE John E. Ayres, Elizabeth, N. J assignor, by mesne assignments, to Oil Equipment Laboratories, Incorporated, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 24, 1950', Serial No. 170,163

11 Claims. 1

Various products in more or less liquid form, such as whipped cream, brushless shaving cream and so forth, are marketed in what are termed pressurized containers; that is, valve-equipped receptacles containing the product and charged with a gaseous medium held under pressure and serving as a propellant for discharging or dispensing the product upon actuation of the container valve. Since it is not feasible for the purchaser to refill such containers when empty, they fall in the throw-away category.

The present inventionrelates to the valves of such pressurized containers and has for its primary object to provide a valve structure which is convenient to manipulate, provides effective control of the discharge of the product and also against leakage, and which, at the same time, is susceptible to manufacture at low cost.

Other objects and advantages of. the invention will. be apparent from the following description of the forms shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a vertical section of a pressurized container equipped with one form of dispenser valveaccording to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the valve. of Fig. 1 and the container cap before application to the container;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the upper portion of a, container incorporating a. modified form of valve;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a further. modification; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, on the line V-V of Fig. 1.

Referring first to the valveconstruction of Figs. 1 and 2, a container l is shown provided with a closure cap 2. This. particular container cap, which, per se, forms no part of the invention, is formed up, as shown in Fig. 2 and then isapplied to the container, to seal it, as shown in Fig. 1, with the cap flange 3 crimped around the bead 4 which surrounds the mouth of. the con,- tainer.

According to this. application of. thepresent in.- vention, the dispenser valve, generally, designated 5 in Fig. 1, is. carried by the container cap, to which it may be pre-assembl'ed as, a unit.

The valve comprises. a body 6. of tubular term,v

which. may be produced cheaply on an. automatic. eyelet machine, the tube being, centered in; an opening inthe cap and protruding above and, below it. The body is secured to the cap as bysoldering, as indicated at 1. The: lower end of, the valve bodyhas an, integral. valve seat,

2 which can be made by simply forming up thelower end portion of the body tube toprovide an upwardly and inwardly extending flange 8-.

A valve plunger is located in the center opening of the valve seat, with a head 9 depending below the seat and a stem H! extending up through and protruding above the upper end of the valve body. A sealing ring H of rubber or the like encircles and grips the lower end of the plunger adjacent its head 9 and the plunger is urged upwardly and the sealing ring held in engagement with the valve body seat by a spring. I-2. The lower end of the spring seats in the space between the valve seat flange and the wallof the valve body; and the upper end of the spring is suitably engaged with the plunger stem; as by the projections 13 struck up from the stem.

As presently referred to in greater detail, the valve is opened by depressing the plunger; and in order to guard against the sealing ring H adhering to the valve seat, the ringis suitably locked to the plunger. This may beachievedby forming small flanges M on the plunger adjacent the head 9 to afford the sealing ring a better grip on the plunger and ensurev its mov-- ing with the plunger when the latter is depressed.

The upper end of the plunger I0 is shownv threaded, at I5, to receive a lockingnut [-6- which, when turned down against the upper end of the valve body 6, serves to hold the valve closed and prevent inadvertent discharge of the product as the result of pressure accidentally a-p-- plied. to the top of the plunger.

A syphon tube l1 depends from the dispenser valve to. the bottom of the container, the tube: preferably being flexible and attached to the valve body simply by its snug fit. Tubes of polyethylene are found to bev suitable for'the purpose.

The. outer end of the valve body carries a suit-- able discharge spout preferably of molded plastic; material. Polyethylene is also suitable for this purpose. In the form shown, the spout consists of a hollow hub portion l8 surrounded by a flangel9.- to rest on the cap flange and form a neat closure for the latter. The spout proper or nozzle 2a is in communication through the port 2|: with the interior of the hub portion. This discharge spout-is arranged to lie in the same vertical plane as the syphon tube to facilitate complete emptying of the container. This relationship is maintained by forming a flat 22 at the upper. end of the valve body and molding the spout. with a complementary shoulder 23 to prevent the spout from turning on the valve body.

As will be understood, the syphon tube is applied and inserted in the container in conformity with this setting of the spout.

The spout is a snug push-fit on the valve body but is removable to give access to the lock nut it. However, after the lock nut has been backed off one or two turns, or enough to permit the required depression of the plunger to open the valve, it is unnecessary to remove the spout each time the valve is to be opened because the plunger can be depressed by applying finger pressure to the thin walled section 24"of the spout which bears against the top of the plunger, as shown in Fig. 1. If the spout is made of sufficiently elastic material, such as polyethylene, it can be rotated to turn the nut I6, making it unnecessary to -re move the spout as above suggested. The correct positioning of the spout in relation to the syphon tube is then determined by the snap-engagement of the shoulder 23 and flat 22.

'In dispensing products from'pressurized containers, the extent to which the valve is opened requires careful control in order to avoid too rapid and, hence, excessive discharge of the products; and the present invention provides for such control while avoiding the expense incident to the maintenance of unduly close tolerances in the manufacture of the parts.

As' shown in Fig. 2, the major part of the length of the plunger immediately below the threaded section 15, is cylindrical, whereas the lower section 25 is enlarged and slightly tapered, the two sections merging at the shoulder 26. By slightly tapered is meant a taper of the order of .004"- .010" in a length of some .187".

In forming up the valve seat flange 8 the central' opening is deliberately undersized, instead of any efiort being made to hold it to a close finished size. The tapered section of the valve plunger, on the other hand, is dimensioned (again without the necessity of holding it to extremely close tolerances) to be an actual force fit in the valve opening. When the valve is assembled, the plunger is forced up'through the under-sized flange opening and actually enlarges it to its final size, the rubber ring ll being engaged with the valve seat and the spring l2 applied and anchored at its upper end while the parts are in this position. During this operation the rubber ring is held under greater compression than that created by the spring and the pressure within the container, so that when the pressure so applied at assembly is removed, the plunger drops back slightly, leaving the rubber ring closely engaged with the valve seat but with aslight clearance around the plunger at the central opening in the seat. Thus, when the parts are assembled, the

valve opening is effectively closed; and when the plunger is depressed, the slight taper on the section 25 provides a closely controlled, small open ing appropriate for the discharge of the product, the full extent of the opening being limited by the backed-off position of the lock nut It. By making the tapered section of the plunger a force fit in the valve flange, the escape passage for the product when the plunger is depressed is more closely controllable than would be the case if the plunger and valve seat opening were both attempted to be pro-sized with normal production tolerances.

The described construction also facilitates filling of the container by the so-called direct fil1- ing method. As will be recognized, an actuating rod or the like forming part of the filling mechanism can be applied to depress the plunger to an illustrative 4 extent sufiicient to bring the reduced diameter upper section of the plunger into the valve flange opening and thereby provide an enlarged filling passage.

In the form shown in Fig, ,3, the many components corresponding to those above mentioned are correspondingly numbered with primed characters and need no further description.

In this instance the rubber ring H is further locked to the plunger by means of a cup 36 which is crimped against the rubber to pinch the ring into close engagement with the plunger stem.

.Also, the locking unit 3 I, which corresponds in function to the locking unit It, is mounted on the outside instead of the inside of the spout unit, the threaded section I5 of the upper end of plunger 7 l0 projecting up through an aperture 32 in the top wall of the spout. To guard against leakage of the product through this aperture when the locking unit is backed off the turn or two necessary to free the plunger, a seal is provided in the form of an upstanding continuous flange 33 molded as an integral part of the spout unit and telescoped with a recess 34 in the nut.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the plunger 35 is formed with a head section 36 at its lower end, which section is provided with a series of grooves 31. A sealing ring 38 engages a formed up valve seat, as before, but the center opening in the valve seat is dimensioned to provide clearance around the plunger 35 at all times. It has been found that the sealing ring, in this construction, will adhere to the valve seat when the plunger is depressed, so that the outlet passage for the product is represented by the gap which opens up between the lower end of the sealing ring and the plunger head 39, the product then passing up through the grooves 37 and through the valve body to a spout, as before. During filling, when this modified construction is used, the pressure of the entering products serves to force the rubber ringofi the seat so that, as in the previous forms, a larger filling opening is provided. 7 7

It will be recognized thatfthe foregoing constructions are illustrative only and that the invention may be embodied in various equivalent forms. In the light of the description of these embodiments, the following is claimed 1. A dispenser valve mechanism for a prese surized container having a closure cap comprising a tubular valve body of sheet material having .imperforate side walls and being open at its'ends,

said valve body extending through, the cap and being secured to the cap intermediate its ends with its lower end protruding below and it up. per end protruding above the cap, a valve seat having an aperture therein carried by the lower end of the valve body, a valve operating plunger extending through the aperture in the valve seat,

said plunger having an actuating stem extending through the valve body and projecting beyond the upper end thereof and a headed end projecting beneath the valve seat at the lower end of the valve body, said actuating stem being spaced from the side walls of the valve body, said plunger also having a gradually tapered section adjacent thereof, said tapered section fitting within the aperture in the valve seat and engaging with the edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein at a point intermediate the end of said tapered section, sealing means secured to the lower end of the plunger anda spring engaging with, the plunger and urging thepll n er upward: lyin thelvalve body to engage the sealing means on the plunger with the valveseat and the tapered section of the plunger withthe. edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein.

2. A dispenser valve mechanism for a pressurized container having a closure cap definedv in claim 1 wherein the valve seat carried by the lower end of the valve body comprises a substane tially conical flange extending inwardly and up-, wardly from the lower end of the valve body with the inner edges thereof defining the aperture in the valve seat and. the tapered section of the plunger makes a force fit with the inner edges of the flange at a point intermediate the ends of said tapered section.

3. A dispenser valve mechanism for a pressurized container having a closure cap as defined in claim 1 wherein the operating stem of the valve plunger is of a smaller diameter than the bination of a valve body of sheet material having i tubular side walls, saidbody being open at one end and having an apertured valve seat formed at the other end thereof, said valve seat comprising a substantially conical flange extending inwardly from the valve body with the inner edges of said fiange defining the aperture in the valve seat, a valve plunger extending through the aperture in the valve seat, said plunger having an operating stem at one end thereof projecting beyond the valve body with the other end i of the plunger projecting beneath the valve seat, said operating stem being of a smaller diameter than the aperture in the valve seat, said plunger also having a tapered section adjacent and sloping outwardly toward the end of the plunger pro jecting beneath the valve seat, said tapered section sloping gradually from a diameter smaller than the diameter of the aperture in the valve seat to a diameter larger than said aperture, and engaging with the edges of the flange defining said aperture at a point intermediate the ends of said section, sealing means secured to the end of the plunger beneath the valve seat and spring means engaging with the plunger, said spring means being biased to urge the plunger in a direction to hold the sealing means in engagement with the valve seat and the tapered section of the plunger in engagement with the edges of the flange defining the aperture in the valve seat.

6. A dispenser unit for a pressurized container comprising the combination of a closure cap having an opening therein, a tubular valve body of sheet material having imperforate side walls and being open at its ends, said valve body extending through the opening in the cap and being sealed to the Cap at a point intermediate the ends of the valve body with its lower end protruding below and its upper end protruding above the cap, a valve seat having an aperture therein carried by the lower end or" the valve body, a valve operating plunger extending through the aperture in the valve seat, said plunger having an actuating stern projecting beyond the upper end of the valve body and a headed end projecting beyond the valve seat at the lower end of the va ve body a d opera in t m. being Q a timb di me r an the op ni in h u e nd o the valve body and being spaced from the side. walls of the valve body, said plun r also having a gradually tapered section adjacent and sloping outwardly toward the headed end thereof, said tapered section fitting within the aperture in the valve seat and engaging with the edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein at a point intermediate the ends of said tapered section, sealing means secured to the lower end of the plunger and a spring surrounding the plunger within the valve body, one end of said spring engaging with the plunger and the other end of the spring engaging with the rear of the valve seat, said spring being biased to urge the plunger upwardly in the valve body to engage the sealing means. on the plunger with the valve seatv and the tapered section of the plunger with the edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein.

7. In a' dispenser unit for a pressurized container having a closure cap, the combination cornprising a tubular valve body of sheet material 7 having imperforate side walls and being open at its ends, said valve body extending through the cap. and being secured to the cap. intermediate its ends with its lower end protruding below and its upper end protruding above the cap, a valve seat having an aperture therein carried by the lower end of the valve body, a Valve, operating plunger extending through the aperture in the valve seat, said plunger having an actuating stern extend: ing through the valve body and a headed end projecting beneath the valve seat at the lower end of the valve body, said stem having a threaded end projecting beyond the upper end of the valve body and being of a smaller diameter than the aperture in the valve seat and the opening in the upper end of the valve body, said plunger also having a gradually tapered section adjacent and sloping outwardly toward the headed end thereof, said tapered section fitting within the aperture in the valve seat and engaging with the edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein at a point intermediate the ends of said tapered section, sealing means secured to the lower end of the plunger, a spring engaging with the plunger and urging the plunger upwardly in the valve body to engage the sealing means on the plunger with the valve seat and with the tapered section of the plunger with the edges of the valve seat defining the aperture therein, a locking nut engaging with the threaded end of the operating stem projecting beyond the upper end of the valve body for controlling operation of the plunger independently of the spring and a dispenser spout telescopically fitted over the upper end of the valve body, said spout having a passageway communicating with the opening in the upper end of the valve body and a discharge outlet communicating with said passageway.

8. In a dispenser unit for a pressurized container having a closure cap, the combination as defined in claim 7 wherein the threaded end of the operating stem projects beyond the dispenser spout and the locking nut engages with the dispenser spout to hold the valve in closed position.

9. In a dispenser unit for a pressurized container, the combination as defined in claim 7 wherein the threaded end of the operating stem projects beyond the dispenser spout and the dispenser spout carries a sealing flange and the locking nut contains a recess engaging with the sealing flange on the dispenser spout.

10, In a dispenservalve mechanism for a pressurized container, the combination comprising a valve body of sheet material having tubular side walls and being open at its ends, a flange extending inwardly from said body at one end thereof and formed integrally therewith, said flange forming a valve seat and defining the opening at said end of the valve body, a valve plunger extending through the opening defined by the flange with its lower end projecting beneath said flange, said plunger having an operating stem projecting beyond the valve body and a slightly tapered section intermediate its ends, said operating stem being of a smaller diameter than the internal diameterof the valve body and the opening therein, said tapered section of the, plunger sloping outwardly toward the lower end of the plunger to a diameter larger than the diameter of the opening defined by the flange and making a force fit with said flange at a point intermediate its ends and sealing means of compressible material carried by the plunger and engaging with the valve seat.

11. In a dispenser valve mechanism for a pres- :surized container, the combination comprising a teams flange, said plunger having an operating stem projecting beyond the valve body and a slightly tapered section intermediate its ends, said operating stem being of a smaller diameter than the internal diameter of the valve body and the opening therein, said tapered section of the plunger sloping outwardly toward the lower end of the plunger to a diameter larger than the diameter of the opening defined by the flange and making a force fit with said flange at a point intermediate its ends sealing means of compressible material carried by the plunger and engaging with the valve seat and a retaining ,cup carried by the plunger, said cup surrounding a portion of the sealing means and holding the sealing means in place on the plunger.

JOHN E. AYRES.

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